Cuomo drilling adviser resigns

Robert Hallman was key figure in whether state will accept hydrofracking

Published 10:42 pm, Friday, March 8, 2013

New York State Deputy Secretary for Energy and the Environment Robert Hallman in the Capitol on Monday June 19, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union)

New York State Deputy Secretary for Energy and the Environment Robert Hallman in the Capitol on Monday June 19, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union)

Photo: Philip Kamrass

Cuomo drilling adviser resigns

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ALBANY — The top environmental adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a key decision maker on whether the state accepts a controversial natural gas drilling technique is stepping down after a year.

Robert Hallman resigned as the $150,000-a-year deputy secretary for energy and environment effective March 1, the governor's press office said. Hallman's energy role will be assumed by Richard Kauffman, who was named by Cuomo as his energy czar during the State of the State address in January.

It was not immediately clear where Hallman's environmental responsibilities will be directed.

The press office announcement on Friday said Hallman's departure was amicable. His plans are not known.

"I was surprised to learn of his departure," said Robert Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York. "He was critical to developing Governor Cuomo's environmental agenda."

Hallman is the latest high-profile official to leave the Cuomo administration. Last month, Cuomo's director of communications, Allison Gollust, resigned after four months to join CNN. At the state Department of Environmental Conservation, recent resignations include those of Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel Steve Russo, who is returning to private law practice, and Regional Director Willie Janeway, who will lead the Adirondack Council.

Hallman, a Manhattan lawyer who was the former chairman of the environmental group New York League of Conservation Voters, could not be reached for comment. A partner with the Manhattan law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel, Hallman had been on the league's board for more than a decade and was chairman the past three years.

In 2011, Hallman was named to a 12-member state advisory panel by DEC to study hydrofracking.

Last month, opponents of natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, called for the Albany County District Attorney's Office to look into a possible conflict of interest involving Hallman.

The group, Frack Action, claimed that Hallman had failed to make "specific financial disclosures" that could raise potential conflict over his oversight of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which is studying whether the state ought to allow hydrofracking.